The most recent attempt by Sam Vincent to broker an agreement that would place Phil Jackson in the Orlando Magic front office failed to gain traction with team officials, the Orlando Sentinel has learned.

In their search to replace Otis Smith, the Magic currently plan to hire someone who will be in Orlando on a full-time basis and has experience working at the highest levels of an NBA front office.

SI.com reported that Vincent's latest proposal stipulates that Jackson would work in Orlando one week out of every month. As part of the package, Vincent also would receive a front-office job. Meanwhile, Brian Shaw would come aboard as the team's head coach, while former NBA All-Star Scottie Pippen would work as Shaw's lead assistant.

Vincent declined to comment when reached by the Sentinel on Wednesday.

But it should be emphasized that the Magic never approached Jackson and haven't had contact with Jackson.

Todd Musburger, one of Jackson's agents, did not return a phone call from the Sentinel for comment. But Musburger told NBA.com, "One, Phil never voiced any interest in Orlando, never had us check it out, never checked it out himself. Two, Orlando never called."

Indeed, the possibility of Jackson working for the Magic was broached to the Magic by Vincent, who played 151 games for the Magic from 1989-90 through 1991-92 and served as the Charlotte Bobcats' head coach during the 2007-08 season.

Last Thursday, the Sentinel reported that Vincent scheduled a meeting with Magic CEO Alex Martins in which Vincent pitched the idea of Jackson joining the Magic front office. In Vincent's initial plan, Pippen, not Shaw, was going to serve as the Magic's next head coach.

At the time, Vincent said that Jackson had backed out after showing some initial interest. But Vincent also stressed that he would approach the Magic again.

The Magic have been searching for someone to head their basketball operations department since the team parted ways with Smith on May 21. That same day, the team fired coach Stan Van Gundy.

Martins will not comment about his search to find Smith's replacement, but the Sentinel has learned that Martins has conducted initial interviews with six candidates and has no more interviews scheduled.

Jackson, 66, hypothetically could be courted by the Los Angeles Clippers, who have a front-office vacancy after general manager Neil Olshey on Monday left the team and joined the Portland Trail Blazers as their GM.

Jackson has homes in southern California and in Montana.

Martins and the Magic would not need to hire Jackson in a front-office role in order to consider Shaw for the Magic's head-coaching job.

Shaw enjoyed his three seasons playing for the Magic in the mid-1990s, and the DeVos family likes him. Also, currently there is only one other NBA head-coaching vacancy, and that job — with the Bobcats — is not as attractive as the Magic's head-coaching job.

Shaw, 46 served as an assistant coach under Jackson with the Lakers for six full seasons. Shaw now is the Pacers' associate head coach.

The Magic hope to hire Smith's replacement at least a week before the NBA draft on June 28.